Tariffs Paid By Louisiana Businesses Have Increased Eightfold, According to Data Released at a Town Hall with Former Congressman Dr. Charles Boustany

Most recent monthly data shows Louisiana businesses paid $19 million in tariffs on products subject to new Trump tariffs during October; more than eight times what was paid on the same products last year

Louisiana businesses have now paid an extra $85 million in import tariffs

Louisiana exports are also paying the price for trade war, as local farmers and manufacturers have faced $39 million in new retaliatory tariffs on goods exported out of the state

(LAFAYETTE, LA) – A group of representatives from Louisiana’s business and manufacturing community joined Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, a nationwide grassroots campaign against tariffs, at a town hall today to reveal new economic data detailing the impact of tariffs on the state’s economy. The townhall was moderated by former Louisiana Congressman Dr. Charles Boustany, who now serves as a spokesman for the grassroots campaign.

The data, compiled by the Trade Partnership, shows that tariffs cost Louisiana businesses $19 million in October. That is over eight times the tariffs paid on those same products in October 2017.

“Tariffs are taxes and Louisianan businesses, families and workers are being hit harder than ever before,” said Tariffs Hurt the Heartland spokesperson and former Congressman Charles Boustany. “I fought for the people of Lafayette and Louisiana for 12 years in Congress. Now I’m fighting to make sure that the administration’s disastrous tariff policies don’t make it harder for local business to hire workers and keep their doors open.”

The town hall featured panelists representing Louisiana’s business and manufacturing communities as well as several trade experts who discussed how these tariffs are impacting their consumers, their ability to invest in their businesses, their exports, and the impact on jobs and hiring.

“The biggest impact we’ve noticed is in the energy sector, which relies on imported steel and aluminum for things as varied as offshore platform applications to building materials for large LNG facilities,” said Eddy Hayes, a trade attorney at Leake & Andersson LLP and Chair of the World Trade Center of New Orleans. “We’ve witnessed a chilling effect in the energy sector due to both uncertainty of supply chain availability and significantly increased pricing for materials that are available.”

The town hall was held at the Petroleum Club of Lafayette, and the full list of speakers included:

Mr. Stephen Waguspack, President and CEO, Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

Ms. Angela Marshall Hofmann, Co-Founder, Farmers for Free Trade

The Louisiana numbers correspond with new national data showing American businesses paid $6.2 billion in tariffs in October, the highest amount for any month in U.S. history. The data, which runs through October 2018 (the most recent month available) and is drawn from U.S. Census Bureau statistics on tariffs, includes the first look at the full weight of tariffs that have been imposed on $200 billion in Chinese imports and the impacts of retaliation from that action.

Tariffs Hurt the Heartland is the nationwide, non-partisan campaign opposing tariffs that is supported by more than 150 trade associations from every industry. Tariffs Hurt the Heartland has been holding town hall meetings on the tariff impact of tariffs in communities across the country. The campaign is also airing ads across 11 states that describe the impact of tariff increases on consumers and has launched an interactive map tracking the tariff impact on American employers.